Six U.S. troops killed in Afghan fighting

Smoke rises from a blast in Kandahar on Saturday. Authorities said one passer-by was killed.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A wave of attacks killed six U.S. troops and at least a dozen civilians Saturday in Afghanistan's volatile south and east, as American reinforcements moving into Taliban-dominated areas face the fierce resistance they expected.

Increased U.S.-led military operations in the southern province of Kandahar are aimed at trying to break the Taliban's grip where it is strongest by delivering security and government services to win over Afghan people.

The hope is that once the tide begins to turn, more control can be handed to Afghan forces without fear that the Taliban might again seize power, bring back its harsh interpretation of Islamic law and resume sheltering al-Qaida leaders. Then U.S. troops could begin withdrawing in July 2011, in line with a schedule set by President Barack Obama.

Senior U.S. military officers have warned, however, that the fight in the Taliban's spiritual birthplace would lead to a rise in casualties for troops. June was the deadliest month of the nearly 9-year-old war, and July has kept pace.

On Saturday, two of the U.S. troops killed died in the south in separate roadside bombings. In Kandahar city, a remote-controlled bomb on a motorcycle exploded, setting cars ablaze and shattering windows at a popular shopping center. The provincial government said one passer-by was killed.

The other American service members died in the east, one from small-arms fire, another by a roadside bomb, a third during an insurgent attack and the last in an accidental explosion. Their deaths raised to 23 the number of American troops killed this month. Last month, 103 international troops were killed, 60 of them Americans.

In Saturday's deadliest attack, in the eastern border province of Paktia, gunmen killed 11 Pakistanis who had crossed into Afghanistan to buy supplies, according to Rohullah Samon, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Samon said 11 Shia minority Muslim tribesmen died and three people, including a child, were wounded in the ambush of their minibus in Chamkani district.

Elsewhere in Paktia, Afghan and international forces also said a commando unit killed a Taliban operative and captured eight others in an overnight raid. Local villagers later protested, saying the men were innocent civilians.

Pakistan toll: The death toll in Friday's twin suicide bombing in the Pakistani village of Yaka Ghund rose to 102 Saturday. The attack also wounded 168 people in the village in Pakistan's tribal area near the Afghan border.